TAXONOMY OF THE FELINE MYCOPLASMAS MYCOPLASMA-FELIFAUCIUM, MYCOPLASMA-FELIMINUTUM, MYCOPLASMA-FELIS, MYCOPLASMA-GATEAE, MYCOPLASMA-LEOCAPTIVUS, MYCOPLASMA-LEOPHARYNGIS, AND MYCOPLASMA-SIMBAE BY 16S RIBOSOMAL-RNA GENE SEQUENCE COMPARISONS

The nucleotide sequence of the 16S rRNA gene of eight mycoplasmas isolated from felids was determined and used for taxonomic comparisons. A signature nucleotide sequence motif and overall sequence similarity to other mollicutes positioned Mycoplasma felifaucium, Mycoplasma felis, Mycoplasma leocaptivus, Mycoplasma leopharyngis, and Mycoplasma simbae in the Mycoplasma fermentans phylogenetic group of mollicutes. Mycoplasma arginini and Mycoplasma gateae were positioned in the Mycoplasma hominis phylogenetic group of mollicutes, and Mycoplasma feliminutum was positioned in the phylogenetically distant Acholeplasma group of mollicutes, showing that host family preference does not necessarily derive from bacterial phylogenetic closeness.